List the book and author so other participants can get their hand on it if they choose to read it as well.

This week:

"Necromancers don't have it easy. We can see the dead, communicate with the dead, and in some cases, we can control the dead. That's a very dangerous ability when you live in a world where dead things co-exist among the living."

Monday, March 29, 2010

How are you faring in reading at the beginning of this week? Are you starting a new book for the week or finishing one up?

I seem to keep bouncing around in my books. I am reading Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie for a book discussion with friends of mine (which we are discussing over at Barnes and Nobles forum). I have started Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between by J.A. Saare. Then the book I am also carrying with me, but seem to have put on the back burner as I am really getting into Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between is Strange Brew - an anthology. I am hoping to get lots of reading in, once again. I try hard but sometimes don't make my mark.

I got some reading done today, but not as much as I wanted to. I am planning on getting another hour in this evening before bed. I think I am going to have to get through Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between as it has caught my attention here in reading. I am on page 123 out of 238, so I am hoping to work hard to get done within the next few days.

As for my Wishing List... It is growing as usual. I have added two new fantasy books to the list. The wonderful authors out there in the world should be very proud of all you bloggers as I just keep adding to the list. And even though I am adding to the list I have a small addiction... buying the books. I have a stack of books here twenty-seven books deep to get to, and I keep adding to the stack. I just have a small problem as I have to buy books.

The book I purchased this week is:

Shadow Prowler By Alexey Perov:(Synopsis provided by Goodreads)

An army is gathering; thousands of giants, ogres, and other creatures are joining forces from all across the Desolate Lands, united, for the first time in history, under one, black banner. By the spring, or perhaps sooner, the Nameless One and his forces will be at the walls of the great city of Avendoom.

Unless Shadow Harold, master thief, can find some way to stop them.

Epic fantasy at its best, Shadow Prowler is the first in a trilogy that follows Shadow Harold, the legendary thief of Siala, on his quest for a magic Horn that will restore peace to the Kingdom of Siala. Harold will be accompanied on his quest by an elfin princess, Miralissa, her elfin escort and ten Wild Hearts, the most experienced and dangerous fighters in their world...and by the king's court jester (who may be more than he seems...or less.)

So, now to you... How are you faring this week so far? Does it look like a good reading week of you? Here is to hoping you have a great week in words and pages.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Write down all the word verifictions you get while posting comments on other peoples blogs.

You then play Balderdash with them.

In case you don't know how to play:

You take the made up word and come up with an authentic sounding definition for it.

Do this for a week and then post your best or favorite ones every Thursday.

Here are mine for this week:

Ariess - the name of a goddess whose name was a play on words. The name is to mean airless. The Goddess is the one worshipped for all animals and vegetation under the sea and lakes - anything that lives under the water. She has beautiful, shiney scales as her skin, which reflect amazing shades of colors.

Sharain - a jungle tribal people who are tall with narrow features. These people live in the large, lush trees of the jungles. They are quick at climbing and running the limbs, never touching the ground they can roam the whole jungle.

flamar - a word given to the flare and flash of sparkles and glamour of shiney materials, jewelry, and makeup that is overdone.

syluide - the solitude a patient has at a psychiatric facility in a thriller/horror book or movie, just before everything goes to hell.

Now for my sons words and definitions this week:

gremiti - a board game that takes five days to play and it IS real life for this time, you can choose different games and areas.

plawk - a kind of hawk that never dies and are very rare to find, only five have been sighted.

Yes, you are all in the correct place. :) I am trying out a new look here at My World...in words and pages.

I am not sure if I like it yet. The last layout was not fitting together properly on my screen, so I was afraid others where having the same problem.

I liked my waterfalls and green look, but I could not find a layout with that look to it. I think I like the layout of the template but not sure about the colors and such. I may end up changing back or to something else all together.

But, please, if you are having any troubles with comments or links here - let me know. In transfering over it is aways possible to get a little mixed up. As, I am not so good with the computer setups. :)

List the book and author so other participants can get their hand on it if they choose to read it as well.

This week:

A high wall cut through the city before them, casting a long shadow over the squalid buildings of the slum. There was a wide pit in front, freshly dug and lined with sharpened stakes. A narrow bridge led across to a tall gate, set between looming towers. The heavy doors were open, but a dozen men stood before them: sweating Union soldiers in steel caps and studded leather coats, harsh sun glinting on their swords and spears.

Recommendation: YES!! If you enjoy fantasy reads with magic, conspiracy, thieves, and other creatures I would start at the beginning of the series and enjoy every step along the way.

Book Synopsis:
A MESSAGE IS INTERCEPTED.
A SINISTER PLAN LAUNCHED.
TWO THIEVES STAND IN THE WAY.

Ex-mercenary Hadrian Blackwater sets course on a high seas adventure to find the lost Heir of Novron. His only hope lies in confronting the ruthless and cunning Merrick Maruis. Fearing Hadrian is not up to the challenge, Royce Melborn joins his ex-partner for one last mission. Their journey finds them adrift amid treachery and betrayals forcing Hadrian to face a past he hoped never to see again.

First Sentence:
Merrick Marius fitted a bolt into the small crossbow before slipping the weapon beneath the folds of his cloak.

My Review and Summary:
Michael has outdone himself, again. With each book I am amazed at how the story has grown, and each book is better than the last - which were impressive in themselves. Michael keeps raising the bar with each book.

The Emerald Storm starts shortly after Nyphron Rising's ending. The first chapter catches you up with happenings of the last three books, yet blends in many new happenings; an assassination plan, and a whole new set of issues now present in the change of seasons and rules.

Many old characters return, along with new characters who help grow the world. In this book I have started to realize how much the characters have grown through the books thus far. We also start to get more details on some of the characters to help place more pieces of the puzzle together. We come across new creatures, like the Ghazel - goblins in the land of Calis.

We visit different areas of the world and learn more about the different races and creatures. We go on a sea voyage, hike through the jungle, and fight a few battles - at sea and on land. Not only does each section of the journey build for the end of the book giving more details of what is happening, but they have their own peckes and valleys to keep meturning the pages and had my heart racing at times all to find out what happens next. This was a book I found very hard to put down. There is a great combination of conspiracy, mystery of a missing person, and a little of magic mixed into this fantasy world.

New dangers are in the works for the world of Avryn. New, threatening enemies and possible destruction come to the surface in this story. But one always seems to remain and working closer to their goal... The Empire.

In the end Michael left me shocked and my jaw hanging open. I enjoy when when an author can get a few twist and turns in on me I didn't foresee. This book did not let me down, and actually exceeded my expectations on all levels. I am left wanting to run out and buy Wintertide, but it's not out yet.

Monday, March 22, 2010

How are you faring in reading your books? Are you starting a new book for the week or finishing one up?

I am just about done with The Emerald Storm by Michael J. Sullivan. I am hoping to get a review up with in the next few days. I am really enjoying this one and having a hard time stopping. I have not made it very far in Strange Brew, the anthology I've been trying to read. Which is okay. I just didn't get much time in traveling last week to get to it, and all week I ate lunch out. This week I think I will have more lunches in and time to read some of it.

I got a good bit of reading done today. I stayed home from work today as our dog wasn't doing well. And she had passed on this morning. So there was a few things to be done, and then I was able to sit down and relax with a book. So I should be able to get through The Emerald Storm this evening. Then I am looking forward to starting Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie. I read the first book with a reading buddy and we discussed it in sections, which is what we plan on doing with this one too.

For my Wishing List... I have added four books. Three of these books are new releases coming out soon. I am really starting to think I will never be able to catch up on these wanted books.

I have received two new books this week. They are:

I was lucky enough to win this book on Twitter from Orbit Books. This is my fantasy book I am looking forward to reading.

SHALE is the lowest of the low - an outcast from a poor village in the heart of the desert. In the desert, water is life and currency, and Shale has none. But he has a secret. It's the one thing that keeps him alive and may save all the cities of the Quartern in the days to come. If it doesn't get him killed first...

TERELLE is a slave fleeing a life as a courtesan. She finds shelter in the home of an elderly painter, but as she learns the strange and powerful secrets of his art she fears she may have traded a life of servitude for something far more perilous...

THE STORMLORD is dying in his tower and there is no one, by accident or design, to take his place. He brings the rain from the distant seas to his people. Without a Stormlord, the cities of the Quartern will wither and die.

Their civilization is a the brink of disaster. If Shale and Terelle can find a way to save themselves, they may just save them all. Water is life and the wells are running dry...

I broke down and purchased a book too, Spider's Bite.

My name is Gin, and I kill people.

They call me the Spider. I'm the most feared assassin in the South-when I'm not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I'm out for revenge. And I'll exterminate anyone who gets in my way-good or bad. I may look hot, but I'm still one of the bad guys. Which is why I'm in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I'm battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction... especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

The 250 word blip I was writing for over at Deadline Dames is posted. If you would like to read it, and you don't have too, you can visit the site by clickinghere and I am number 11 in the comments. I hope you enjoy if you stop over, if not okay and thanks for reading. :)

How are you faring this week so far? Here is to hoping you have a great week in words and pages.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Write down all the word verifictions you get while posting comments on other peoples blogs.

You then play Balderdash with them.

In case you don't know how to play:

You take the made up word and come up with an authentic sounding definition for it.

Do this for a week and then post your best or favorite ones every Thursday.

Here are mine for this week:

tintrati - the process of boiling hardened lava after it has cooled to melt and remove the liquid tin out. The tin is then laid flat to cool and form sheets to be minipulated as needed, or made into blocks to sell.

undestri - this is a name vampires have given to the feeling the people who are immuned, to the vampire pull to have a desire to do as they want, feel when vampires command them. The immuned people are disgusted and irrate when vampires try to demand from them.

cometi - this is what we call the man-made garbage items in space that come barreling back into our atmosphere. These items are like comets when reentering our atmosphere and collide with the earth at great speed and flaming hot.

I am once again proud to present words defined by my son:

copwrin - a large area of land with at least 30 crops all mixed together.

tatomi - a tsunami that is bigger than a skyscraper and can go up to 30 miles wide and in-land, only come from when there is a tornado on the water.

Recommendation: Yes, if you like reading a story with depth in its gods history along with current struggles, and learning of the whole world they shaped.

Book Synopsis:
Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle.

First Sentence:
I am not as I once was.

My Review and Summary:
Just shortly after Yeine's mother passes away, a mysterious death, Yeine is called to Sky. Sky is the elite city in the air on a single column overlooking the kingdoms in which the Arameri, people awarded by the god Bright Itempas with contol of weapons given to them, live. Yeine does not know why her grandfather, whom she has never met, has required her presence in Sky. Once in Sky Yeine is bombarded with many things; being named heir to the throne, the difference in culture, the imprisoned god Nightlord and his three children called Enefadeh, and twin cousins who will do anything to be the heir to the powerful throne. Yeine is warned of how dangerous the imprisoned god and Enefadeh are, yet she has something they need. The cousins are also named heirs to the throne and Yeine is not sure what is to happen with three named heirs.

I have to say I enjoyed this book very much. I loved the creation of the gods and why they were weakened, trapped, and tortured. Along with the way a god could be kept under thumb and used for the power holders ways, needs, or just for the power possessed. I was also mesmerized by the relationship and differences between two cultures and way of life. Then there's the wondering question of who do I trust or not trust in a new world. Not only do I, as a reader, ask this question in a new book or series but Yeine the main character has to work this out herself. I started learning of the magic present in the story, and I look forward to learning more as the rest of the trilogy unfolds.

The story is written from Yeine's point of view, in the first person, which gives the feeling I am seeing, experiencing and learning everything with her. There are sections at the beginning and through out the chapter in which Yeine is remembering pieces of additional information or stumbling slightly in her storytelling, but if you know these sections are there you should not be confused. I liked the insight these shared as potential tidbits to help know what is going on or why.

It was a great debate novel for Nora Jemisin and an amazing start to a trilogy. I WILL be looking forward to book two, The Broken Kingdoms due out fall 2010, and book three.

If you would like to visit N.K. Jemisin's site where she has the first three chapters up for you to sample, click here.

Monday, March 15, 2010

How are you faring in reading your books? Are you starting a new book for the week or finishing one up?

I did some reading over the weekend, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and discussion of it over at Barnes & Nobles. I was hoping to get more reading in but... well... got busy with other things as well.

I didn't get any reading done on lunch break today, but hope to get some done this evening. Our dog is a little shakey here, so I had to go get medicine for her this evening. She is a month away from being 12 years old and for a large dog she is, how do I put it nicely... really old. But now I am hoping to get some reading done this evening. I am still working on The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin for Barnes and Nobles discussion. I am getting ready to start The Emerald Storm By Michael J. Sullivan. This may take me a little time to read as it is an ARC E-Book. I will be reading it on the computer while at home. And any reading this week done on the run will be of Strange Brew, another anthology. As you have probably guessed, I am hoping for a big reading week.

As for adding books to my Wanting List... I have added 6 more books. One of these six is the first book of a trilogy, so if I add the other 2 books I have 8 books I have added! I don't think I will ever catch up with all these books. I have to thank all the amazing authors out there as I really do truly want all these books.

I have received 1 book in the mail this week. It is:

I won Blue Diablo on Twitter! I was really excited to win this one as I have been wanting this one.

Here is a Blip from over at Ann Aguirre's site:Right now, I’m a redhead. I’ve been blonde and brunette as the situation requires, though an unscheduled color change usually means relocating in the middle of the night. So far, I’m doing well here. Nobody knows what I’m running from. And I’d like to keep it that way…

Eighteen months ago, Corine Solomon crossed the border to Mexico City, fleeing her past, her lover, and her “gift”. Corine, a handler, can touch something and know its history—and sometimes, its future. Using her ability, she can find the missing—and that’s why people never stop trying to find her. People like her ex, Chance…

Chance, whose uncanny luck has led him to her doorstep, needs her help. Someone dear to them both has gone missing in Laredo, Texas, and the only hope of finding her is through Corine’s gift. But their search may prove dangerous as the trail leads them into a strange dark world of demons and sorcerers, ghosts and witchcraft, zombies—and black magic…

I have also been working on writing up a short 250 word blip, for Readers on Deadline. This is a post and contest done over at Deadline Dames. They pick a picture to help inspire you to write up to 250 words. My small problem... I have 291 words now. I have narrowed it down from 346, but now I am stuck. I do some work with it each night, which each time I look at it I am able to change something new. I am hoping to be able to skim it down to 250 by March 24th. If you would like to check this out or give it a shot yourself stop over, click here.

Here is to hoping you have a great week in words and pages. How are you faring this week so far?

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Write down all the word verifictions you get while posting comments on other peoples blogs.

You then play Balderdash with them.

In case you don't know how to play:

You take the made up word and come up with an authentic sounding definition for it.

Do this for a week and then post your best or favorite ones every Thursday.

Here are mine for this week:

recher - the zombie feeling one has after having a case of the stomach virus and had been worshipping the porcelain gods.

cenchur - a distant relative to the centaur, which is part man and part oxen. They are very rare to see and are extremely strong, even in the human upper body with thick muscles.

nurvexa - a spell cast by the most powerful witches and wizards in which the victum suffers from memory lose and don't even realize it. This is a shorting of the neurons in the brain to stop them from moving on and remembering.

frolaig - a term used for the phrasing of 'from short to long' referencing how life seems to be so short and not pass yet so many years have passed in on day.

Well, since my son enjoyed himself last week playing this game last week, I asked him to pick a word from the list again this week.

joulashu - a jungle with every animal made, including the extinct, with long and wide branches over cliffs you could walk on.

noger - a type of beaver that when it claws it has a special power that it's claws get really long and they can go up to five feet when it attacks.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Series: I am not sure if it is considered a series, but part of Featuring Tommy and Tuppence Beresford.

Recommendation: If you are a mystery lover, they you probably already love Agatha Christie. If not this is for straight mystery for people.

Book Synopsis:
Who is the beautiful actress whose trail leads to a perfectly staged murder? What are a mother and daughter to do when a haunted house becomes their deadly inheritance? Where better than a costume ball to conceal the identity of a masked killer? A variety of uncanny crimes calls for a variety of resolve. In this "hilarious burlesque of detective fiction" (New York Times), two of Agatha Christie's most adventurous sleuths, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, adopt the methods and manners of every major literary detective from Hercule Poirot to Sherlock Homes to piece together an increasingly complex series of delightfully different - and deadly - misdeeds.

First Sentence:
Mrs. Thomas Beresford shifted her position on the divan and looked gloomily out of the window of the flat.

My Review and Summary:
I am sure many of you are wondering what this book is doing here. Well, I read it with the TuesBookTalk on twitter. (You are welcome to join us for our next book discussion if you would like!) I stick pretty much to fantasy and paranormal reads, so thought I would expand my horizons - or something like that - and give different genre a quick try. Doing discussions with others is what helps keep me into reading the books.

This book is a collection of short mysteries in which Tommy and Tuppence work their way through posing as detectives owning their own agency, as asked by Scotland Yard, to catch a mean suspect. Tommy and Tuppence are wonderful characters. They have great humor and love to pick on each other. I really enjoyed the teasing of each other. And this lovely couple act out different detectives for each case, based on what they know of the case. You really get a small glimps of how they see other detectives in the books.

My Favorite Fictional Character this week is for a few reasons. The first reason is I love this character is this is where I started reading a few years ago and the second is I have a soft spot for dragons. Yes, you read that correctly, I said dragons.

My pick this week is named after the color of her scales, Saphira. Do you see in the picture here how such a beautiful and strong creature she is?

Saphira is the young dragon of a young Eragon in the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr, 4th book Untitled) by Christopher Paolini.

Apart from being a beast with physical strength and beauty she has a very strong personality. Saphira has a strong belief in the way of right and wrong and the dragons world. Even though she was not raised by dragons, or even with dragons around - being she is on of the last around.

When Eragon questions Saphira as to why she choose him to hatch for and be her rider, her response is because he is good and strong. Saphira sees more in people than what they are trying to act as. She has a strong sense of good and right. Saphira becomes the rock to Eragon.

I saw the movie Eragon and since my son loved it so much we purchased the books. When I got laid off from my job I picked them up to read and fell in love with reading. I found my genre to read and loved the style.

I am standing at the side of the room, watching. Yeine is very sick. She has a fever and may die. It seems that she went into major shock with learning the tramendous secret she just learned... on who she may be. The Enefadeh (once known as gods until the now One God took his place and imprisoned the others) are watching, hoping, that Yeine pulls through as they need her. I am hoping she pulls through as well, although I am curious as to what it is the Enefadeh need Yeine for or to do.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

By N.K. Jemisin

(Sorry for the delay in getting this post up. Hope you all enjoy it. :))

Recommendation: Yes, if you like lots of Celtic Mythology and mystery with Urban Fantasy, this would be a great read for you.

Book Synopsis:
Some people have the Sight.
Genevieve Scelan has the Scent.

They call her "Hound," and with her unique supernatural sense Evie can track nearly anything - lost keys, vanished family heirlooms... even missing people. And though she knows to stay out of the magical undercurrent that runs beneath Boston's historic streets, a midnight phone call from a long-vanished lover will destroy the careful boundaries she has drawn . Now, to pay a years-old debt, Evie must venture into the shadowy world that lies between myth and reality, where she will find betrayal, conspiracies, and revelations that will shatter all she believes about herself and the city she claims as home.

When the Hunt is on, the Hound must run...

First Sentence:
No one ever calls in the middle of the night if they have good news.

My Review and Summary:
Genevieve, or Evie as friend from school call her, works as a bike courier in Boston. But, on the side works to help recover, or find, items for people - for a fee to help pay rent. Evie has a special ability passed down in her family blood of years past, she can smell scents even almost taste them at times. Evie has the nick name in the Undercurrent of Hound. But one night, after midnight she receives a call from a friend of the past who Evie thought was gone or dead. Frank, someone Evie had not talked to in fifteen years which didn't end on best of terms, calls to say he has found a way out and is leaving. But the coversation changes and Evie now can taste the scent of a hunt. She receives a warning from another through Frank. Because Frank was once a friend, and possibly more, she feels she owes him and decides to hunt him since no one knows where he is, and there was something in his voice which she feared he would be in trouble.

The story caught my attention at the beginning. The mystery started right off from page one. Then as I read more questions surfaced to me. I love mystery with my urban fantasy, and this book had it. Fifty pages into the book I was caught up with many questions and wondering how they will tie together. From here on out I started to get the pieces and the puzzel was coming together.

There is magic, Celtic mythology, and a dark side mixed in here. The magic is defined in this story as three different categories and what would fall in those areas. The Irish mythology is added in and blended with the gods and magic together to come to the end of the book.

I enjoyed reading this book, although I did at times stumble over a few words I was not sure of. My confusion was only because I was not quite sure what some words were, ones used in the magic world, which I am sure many of you would know them. These words did get defined in the book.

Monday, March 8, 2010

How are you faring in reading your books? Are you starting a new book for the week or finishing one up?

I had another busy weekend and was not feeling very well. Last week I put it off and on Friday I went to the doctors. Well, I called Tuesday and they couldn't get me in till Friday - but I didn't push to get an appointment earlier. I found out I have another sinus infection. I hate these, they make my eyes hurt so too. But, the last half of the week was running with my son and personal items that we just had to do. Nothing bad, just things like hair cuts and coloring and visiting with family, you know all those things that just takes time. So reading was a little limited as of Wednesday. I am hoping to have a better reading week this week.

I am currently reading Spiral Hunt by Margaret Ronald and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. I am hoping to get through Spiral Hunt here this evening, I think I have about 40 pages left.

I have added six books to my list this week. Between reading blogs and I got a few wonderful suggestions too. You are all giving me great books to get and read, and keep all these wonderful authors in lots of work. :)

I did get a two books this week:

The Emerald Storm is an ARC. I have been loving this series so far and can not wait to get to book #4.

Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between is another book I was looking forward to.

I can't wait to get into these two books!

So, how are you faring this Monday? Does the week look like a promising reading week? I am hoping so, for you and me! Happy Reading!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

I am with Yeine in a magnificently looking library. There are shelves all over and on the pillers as well. It is amazing at all these books. The books are shelved by the different languages of the different races of the kingdoms. We where looking though the books on Yeines native language of Darren, about the Gods War and before the Gods War. However, we have not found anything. It does seem the priests have removed that information so we will only believe in the one God. But, Yeine has just found a secreted area with portraits of the three gods. These are stunning portraits of the gods, in more ways then one.

Monday, March 1, 2010

How are you faring in reading your books? Are you starting a new book for the week or finishing one up?

I had a busy weekend, but I can't even tell you what we did. How about that? We really didn't do anything that big or fun to remember. Just busy. But I did get Boneshaker by Cherie Priest done and the review up yesterday. I am currently starting into The Hundred Thousnd Kingdoms By N.K. Jemisin. This read will most likely take me all month to finish, as I am reading this along with others over at Barnes and Nobles form site for a discussion. The author, herself, will be visiting all month as well. I am on page 40 out of 398 pages.

I am still trying to perfect my schedule here with working, reading, blogging, writing, and family time. Next week I will work on adding back in my exercise time. It is hard to do!

I have added 11 books to my list this week. Yep, I've been busy reading lots of reviews and such on books. Sorry if I didn't comment on all of them, but I was reading away. This is awsome! These authors are going to be so thankful to all the people buying their books. :)

The world was called Montefiore, as far as she knew, and from her aerie on every side all the world descended.The year is 1502, and seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives perched high above the rolling hills and valleys of Tuscany and Umbria at Montefiore, the farm of her beloved father, Don Vicente. There she spends her days cosseted by Primavera Vecchia, the earthy cook, and Fra Ludovico, a priest who tends to their souls between bites of ham and sips of wine.But one day a noble entourage makes its way up the winding slopes to the farm -- and the world comes to Montefiore. In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia -- decadent children of a wicked pope -- no one can claim innocence for very long. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a years-long quest to reclaim a relic of the original Tree of Knowledge, he leaves Bianca under the care -- so to speak -- of Lucrezia. She plots a dire fate for the young girl in the woods below the farm, but in the dark forest there can be found salvation as well ...

The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say.

I got some reading in at lunch time and this evening already. I am hoping to have a good reading week, even though the day seemed to go yuckie for me I am hoping the week will personally do better and I will get my reading done. I know it is going to be slower this week with trying to take notes and thinking on my read for the discussions but I love doing it. I am also hoping to get some shorter books in, inbetween the stops while discussing.

So, how are you faring this Monday? Does the week look like a promising reading week? I am hoping so for you and me! Happy reading!

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About Me:

I'm happily married with a son, working through the day undercover as a book keeper in the mundane paper shuffling. But by night I enjoy journeying through fantasy worlds created by others and of my own. I read Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Dystopian, some Science Fiction, Paranormal and all in YA as well.

Finished...Review to Follow.

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Quotes from Books, which caught my eye...

"It's always Ragnarok. Regular mortals have the power to blow the world sky-high and all the major supernatural factions can do the same. The thing is, though, as long as people want to live then you're going to have people stepping in the way of those who want to do something to blow us up. That's the only way you can endure it."Ben Talbot, By C.T. Phipps in Esoterrorism

"Be that as it may, we were--and no doubt, still are--held under scrutiny, with that whole Phoenix Society brouhaha. It is imperative we remain on our best behaviour, a feat that you did not exactly manage effortlessly with your shenanigans in Edinburgh." Wellington Books, By Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris in The Jaus Affair

"Remember this always: the fly, even in paradise, must always exist on shit."By Frances Pauli from The Fly in Paradise

"'In hundreds of years,' she continued, voice darker and sober now, 'I've only let myself love two people. You don't have that kind of time, though. You're mortal. You don't get to make a lot of mistakes before you kick it and if you wait, you get screwed over.'"By Skyla Dawn Cameron from Hunter

"...But I don't want you to be afraid to take risks. If it's worth it...If the person in his eyes is the person you want to be, the person you know you could be...then don't be scared..."By Nicole Peeler from Tracking the Tempest

"We are what we choose to be, girl," she said. "Let others determine your worth, and you've already lost, because no one wants people worth more than themselves..."By Peter V. Brett from The Warded Man.

"There are no honorable causes. There is no good or evil. Evil is only what we call those who oppose us."By Michael J. Sullivan from Nyphron Rising.

"That we are both right. One truth doesn't refute another. Truth doesn't lie in the object, but in how we see it."By Michael J. Sullivan from Nyphron Rising..

"Death is real, irreversible, and awful. Do you want some advice? Don't wait until you're dead to try to communicate. Do it now. You still have a chance. Not a great one, but a better one than you will have. If you think it's hard to get your point across now, and that no one really understands what you're about, just try it when you're dead." By Alexander Jablokov from Brain Thief.

"I wasn't running now so much as stumbling quickly, panting like a geriatric lion." By Nicole Peeler from Tempest Rising.

"Watch for the ones who leave your mouth hanging open. Study them, find out what they love and what they fear. Dig the treasure out of their soul and hold it to the light." He leaned in even closer now, so that Neb could smell the wine on his breath. "Then Be like them."By Ken Scholes from Lemantation.

The truth, the Seventeenth Gospel said, is a seed planted in a field of stones beneath a stone and guarded by snakes. To have at it, be strong enough to move the stone, patient enough to dig the hole and fast enough to dodge the viper's fang.By Ken Scholes from Lamentation.

I took a deep breath, "I took the nahlrout because I didn't want to faint. I needed to let them know they couldn't hurt me. I've learned that the best way to stay safe is to make your enemies think you can't be hurt." It sounded ugly to say it so starkly, but it was the truth. I looked at him defiantly.By Patrick Rothfuss from The Name of the Wind.

"We can be strong in the face of kings and priest, my lady," Ashe replied, "but to live is to have worries and uncertainties. Keep them inside, and they will destroy you for certain-leaving behind a person so callused that emotion can find no root in his heart."By Brandon Sanderson from Elantris.